Bruce Harper photo
Trojan junior Cameron Kremers is already drawing a lot of attention with the college level baseball coaches. He has verball committed to the Oklahoma State University Cowboys to play baseball after graduation from A.C. Jones in 2015.

BEEVILLE – In the world of baseball these days, if you are tall and can throw a baseball around 90 miles per hour, and you’re left-handed, you’re going to catch a lot of attention from college and pro scouts alike.

Such is the case for Beeville Trojan Cameron Kremers. The 6-8, 240-pound lefty throws hard and has drawn plenty of attention from Division I university baseball programs and has several scouts from the Major Leagues asking about setting up a throwing stint under their watchful eyes.

Kremers is only a junior at A.C. Jones and can’t officially sign a letter of intent to play baseball at a four-year university until next November, but he can verbally commit his intentions to attend a specific school.

Despite a little protestation from UT grad parents Hank and Karen, Cameron has verbally committed to play baseball and pitch for the Oklahoma State University Cowboys after graduating from high school.

Kremers made his decision early last fall after visiting the OSU campus for the second time.

“I really hit it off with their pitching coach, Rob Walton. He is also the coach for the USA national team and has coached in the Olympics,” Kremers said.

The OSU campus is in Stillwater, Okla., a smaller town between Oklahoma City and Tulsa that provides more of a college-town feel than some of the other big-city Division I schools that have tried to lure Kremers to their pitching mounds.

“I fell in love with Stillwater. It’s a better fit for me and seems more like a small-town atmosphere, which I like.”

Other schools that have expressed an interest in Kremers include Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and others.

“When I was growing up, I always thought I would go to UT. Both my parents graduated from there, and my dad played baseball for the Longhorns,” Kremers said.

“They both were a little surprised. My mom could not believe I didn’t want to go to UT, but she is coming around. My dad just wants me to go where I’ll be the happiest.”

Kremers throws in the upper 80’s with regularity and has been clocked at 92-93 mph on occasion over the last summer. He has been playing select baseball since he was 12 years old with a team in Houston. Kremers was also selected on a junior national team last year.

“We play five or six tournaments a year and all over the country. It’s against some of the best in the nation, and you can measure yourself by your teammates and the other players.”

Beeville’s big lefty has his sights set on throwing 91-93 mph this year and will keep up his training and work with well-known pitching guru Tom House in Austin. House has worked with several professional teams and individuals over the years and is highly regarded as one of the best pitching trainers in the world.

Part of that routine is running two miles a day to strengthen his legs. House is also a big proponent of using weighted baseballs to build strength in the shoulder and arm of a young pitcher.

“I throw a two-seam and a four-seam fastball along with a curve, and I am working on a circle change,” Kremers said.

“I really take pride in my ability to work the ball inside and outside on a hitter.”

That control can be a big selling point for Kremers in the future. In today’s professional baseball there are a number of hard-throwers who can reach the mid 90’s, but the number of pitchers really dwindles to just a handful who can master, or get close to mastering, location.

Kremers has not ruled out signing a pro contract if drafted high enough in next year’s MLB draft. It depends on who, where and when, he said.

If he does go pro, one of the stipulations will be that the club will pick up his expenses for a college degree in the offseason.

Kremers feels he would most likely study business, if selected and gets a chance to play professionally. If not, and he goes to OSU, he will study petroleum engineering and enter the oil business like his dad and big sister, Kristen, who just happens to be an Oklahoma University grad.

That sparked a few good conversations around the family dinner table, with two UT grads for parents and a big sister sporting an arch rival Sooner smile.